Lady&#39;s shoe



J. C. PAPE Aug. 6, 1940 LADY Filed Sept. 26, 1938 Patented Aug. I 6, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT :oF icE Application September 2 Claims.

This invention relates to shoes, more partic-' ularly to shoes of the pump type;

It is well known that low shoes such as pumps frequently cause great discomfort and pain to the wearer due to the fact that the front edge of the upper at the foot opening binds tightly against or cuts into the wearers instep. This serious objection arises from the necessity that the securement of the pump on the'wearers foot be obtained by reason of a relatively tight fit of the pump at the instep of the wearers foot. For this reason it is well understood by shoemanufacturers that the points at the top edge of the upper at the heel and at front edge of the foot opening centrally of thelatter are criticalpoints and must be accurately determined in order to produce a pump which will properly fit the wearers foot, not only when the pump is new but for a reasonable period of time of wear; It is important therefore to prevent excess elongation of the longitudinal medianline of the foot opening, that is the distance between the-rear and front points at the top edge of the upper, in order to prevent bulging of the sides of the upper and in order generally to preserve. the proper fit shape and appearance of the pump on the wearers foot. p I t One object of the invention, therefore, is"to provide 'a pump constructed and arranged to obviate the above mentioned serious objection in respect to the discomfort due'to the tight binding against or cutting of'the'wearers instep, and which is nevertheless so made that the proper fit thereof on the wearers foot is preserved, whereby to prevent bulging of the sides of'the upperv at the pump and other distortions of the upper which result in impairing the shape, appearance andproper fitting of the pump. Another object of the invention is to provide a pump which has an inextensible binding tape at the top edge of the upper whereby to prevent stretching or undue elongation of the distance between the above mentioned critical points at the rear and front edges of the'upper, and'to accomplish this while at the same time constructing the upper at the front edge of the foot opening in such manner as to substantially eliminate the cutting action of the front edge of the upper of the pump on the wearer's instep. v v

A yet further object ofthe invention is generally to provide a pump .of improved construction in respect to the comfort and continued proper lit and appearance thereof during wean v i The above objects of the invention and other objects which might hereinafter appear will be more fully understood from the following-description considered with reference to the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

6, 1938, Serial No. 231,714

(Cl. 36v45) Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a pump embodying thepresentinvention; Fig; 2 is a plan view, on'a larger scale, of the front portion of the pump shown in Fig. 1;'

Fig, 3 is a fragmentary 'view on a larger scale of the inner front portion of the upper of the pump adjacent the front of the foot opening; T

Fig. 4 is a'sectional view on the line 4-4of 1 Referring now to the drawing in detail, the low shoe 10, here shown as a ladys pump, comprises as usual an upper I2, a sole l4 and arelatively highheel l5. In accordance with the resent invention, the upper I2 is provided atthe front edge of the foot opening with a yieldable portion It composed in part at least of elastic leather --which is now readily available on the market. Said elastic leather is as smooth 'as ordinary inelastic leather and has the same ap pearance 'as the latter. Thus when the upper I2 has its outer layer l2a composed, for example, of suede, which is extensively used in the uppers of pumps and similar low shoes, the'ex-" posed layer of yieldable portion l6 may likewise be'composed of suede leather which, however, is elastic-although the rest of the front of the pump in the exposed layer thereof may be and is'preferablyinelastic.

IYieldable portion 16 comprises an outer or exposed layer of leather l8 and an innerilayer 20 of elastic sheet material, for example LasteX, said layers l8 and 20 being adhesively united throughout their contiguous surfaces, usually by rubber cement, said layers being stretchable and contractable without producing wrinkles in layer I8. "I'he upper edge portion of leather la'yer I8 is folded inwardly to provide an inturned margin '24 and asmooth folded edge 22 at the front edge of the foot opening for engagement withthe wearers foot. Said inwardly folded marginal portion 24 is relatively narrow so as not to interfere substantially with the elasticity of the composite material constituted by layers 18 and "20, and a strip of elastic tape 26, the ends of which are indicated at 21, is secured at its opposite side edgesto layers l8 and Why lines of zig-zag stitching 2B and 30. The front portion 32' of the lining of the upper extends rearwardly beyond the forward edge IQ of leather layer l8 and overlaps tape 26 and is secured to yieldable portion l6 by a line of stitching 34. The lines of stitching 28 and 34 pass through the layers of material to the outer surface ofthe shoe, as

shown in Figs. 2 and 4. Yieldable portion I6 can stretch and contract in adirection longitudinally of the front edge of the foot opening, that is, in a direction across the shoe from one side-to the other. .It will be understood that the edge 36 of the lining 32 terminates a substantial distance forwardly of the folded edge 22 of yieldable portion l6 so as not to interfere with the elasticity and yieldability of said portion I6.

The top edge of upper I2 is provided with an inextensible binding tape 38 which extends completely around the shoe and has a front portion 38a; spaced forwardly of the front edge of the foot opening defined by folded edge 22 of yieldable portion l6. Said inextensible tape 38 may be composed of any of the well known materials used as binding tapes at the edges'of low shoes such as pumps, a grosgrain binding tape, for example, being suitable for the purpose of the present invention. It will be understood that said inextensible binding tape 38 prevents the top edge portion of the upper opening from stretching and thereby prevents elongation of said edge portion of the upper and obviates bulging of the side of the upper and other distortions thereof which impair the appearance, shape and fit of the pump on the wearers foot. On the other hand, yieldableportion IE which is in engagement with the part of the wearers instep, prevents the front edge of the upper from cutting into the wearers instep. It will be observed that th opposite end portions 40 of yieldable portions l6 terminate substantially at the ends of the-front edge of the upper at the foot opening, whilethe inextensible tape 38 continues forward- .ly of said end portions 40 and extends around .the frontedge of the foot opening forwardly of the exposed edge 22 of said yieldable portion. In orderto obtain best results, it is'preferred to locate edge 22 of the foot opening one-eighth of an inch rearwardly of where the front edge of the footopening would be if the pump were of conventionalconstruction, while the front end of thC ShOB opening edge of that part of the upper 12 that is provided with inextensible tape '3 8a-is located one-eighth of an inch forwardly of 'where the front edge of the upper at the footppening would be if the pump were of conventional construction. Thus the edge 22 is located rearwardly of the normal throat line and theinextensible tape portion 38a is located forwardlyof the normal throat line as compared with a pump of conventional construction. This has been found to provide an upper which engages the wearers foot to hold the same securely thereon,and yet prevents pain or discomfort to the wearer ,due to the abovementioned cutting action which usually arises in wearing pumps of conventional construction, that is pumps which have relatively unyieldable edge portions at the front of the foot opening. i...-.Th us it is seen that the pump constructed as herein shown and described is Well adapted to accomplish the, objects of the present invention. Itwill be understood, however, that the invention may be embodied otherwise than as here shown and that in the preferred embodiment herein illustrated certain changes in details of construction and arrangement of parts may be made. Therefore I do not wish to be limited precisely to the form of .the invention herein shown or described, except as may be-required by the scope of the appended claims;

Having thus described my invention, What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: -1.'A low shoe such as a pump comprising an upper having an inextensible binding tape extending completely around the shoe at the foot open- .ing, the front portion of said tape being spaced forwardly of the front edge of theupper at the ing.

line, and the upper having a yieldable and elastic portion at said front edge of the foot opening extending rearwardly of said front portion of the inextensible tape and beyond the normal throat line and terminating in an edge defining the front edge of said foot opening.

' 2. A low shoe such as a pump comprising an upper having an inextensible binding tape extending completely around the shoe at the foot opening, the front portion of said tape being spaced forwardly of the front edge of the upper at the foot opening and forwardly of the normal throat line, and the upper having a yieldable portion of elastic leather at said front edge of the foot opening extending rearwardly of said front portion of the inextensible tape and beyond the normal throat line and terminating in an edge defining the front edge of said foot opening.

3. A low shoe such as a pump comprising an upper having an inextensible binding tape extending completely around the shoe at the foot opening, the front portion of said tape being spaced forwardly of the front edge of the upper at the foot opening, and the upper having a yieldable elastic portion at said edge of the foot opening extending rearwardly. of said front portion of the inextensible tape, said yieldable portion of the upper comprising an. exposed continuous layer of leather and an inner layer of elastic sheet material adhesively united together in stretchable and contractable relation and terminating in an edge defining the front edge of said foot opening.

4. A low shoe such as a pump comprising an upper having an inextensible binding tape ex tending completely around the shoe at the foot opening, the front portion of said tape being spaced forwardly of the front edge of the upper at the foot opening, and the upper having a yieldable elastic portion at said front edge of the foot opening extending rearwardly of said front portion of the inextensible tape, said yieldable portion of the upper comprising an exposed continuous layer of leather and an inner layer of .5. A low'shoe such as a pump comprising an upper. having an inextensible binding tape extending completely around the shoe at the front opening, the front portion of said tape. being spaced forwardly of the front edge of the upper at the foot opening, and the upper having a yieldable elastic portion at said front edge of the foot opening extending rearwardly of said front portion of the inextensible tape, said yieldable portion of the upper comprising an exposed continuous layerof leather and an inner layer of elastic sheet material adhesively united together in "stretchable and contractable relation, said yieldable portion having a narrow inwardly folded marginal portion at the front edge of the foot opening, and an elastic tape secured to said folded marginal portion on the inside of the shoe forwardly of the folded edge at the front of the foot opening and overlapping the inner edge of said folded portion, said folded front edge portion defining the front edge of the foot open- JAMES C. PAPE. 

